


safer to stay where they want me

by lovebeyondmeasure



Series: the lifetime that follows an endless year of ice [3]
Category: Captain America - All Media Types, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: 500 word fic, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Emotions and Fluff, F/M, Recovery, Shopping, Steve pulled from the ice after a year, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-13
Updated: 2017-09-13
Packaged: 2018-12-27 17:54:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12086271
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lovebeyondmeasure/pseuds/lovebeyondmeasure
Summary: "You’ve been here three weeks, they’ve run every test humanly possible on you twice, you’re right as rain.” He looked so unsure it broke her heart. “Darling, come on. Rejoin the world of the living. It won’t get easier if you stay cooped up in here.”Steve's freshly defrosted after a year on ice and hesitant to leave the hospital. Peggy decides it's time to go.





	safer to stay where they want me

Peggy came into the room without knocking. “Hello, Steve,” she said pleasantly. “How are you today?”

He looked at her from his seat by the window. She could see the faint imprint of his hand on his chin, which meant he’d been sitting there, staring out the window, for most of the day. Again.

“I’m good, Pegs, how are you?” he asked, trying a smile.

“Oh, you know, another day, another blockheaded general telling me to go home to my husband,” she said airily. “Disregarding, of course, that I am unmarried, and one of the best agents they have.”

Steve’s brow furrowed. She smiled, sitting down in the chair across from his. “It’s fine, Steve, I showed him the error of his ways.”

“That’s my girl,” he replied, glancing back out the window.

“Steve?” she said. “Do you think you’d like to leave this place sometime soon?”

He jerked his attention back to her. “Oh, I, uh. Yeah, I suppose so. Soon.”

Peggy leaned forward. “Steve. Why not right now?”

“Now?”

“Why not? You’ve been here three weeks, they’ve run every test humanly possible on you twice, you’re right as rain.” He looked so unsure it broke her heart. “Darling, come on. Rejoin the world of the living. It won’t get easier if you stay cooped up in here.”

He sighed. “I dunno, Pegs, they want to make sure I’m not gonna have any aftereffects, and-”

“What happened to the man who jumped out of a plane?” she demanded. “Who stopped listening when the orders weren’t right? I know he’s in there somewhere. Unless they left him in the ice?”

He looked at her seriously for a long moment. Peggy was afraid she’d pushed too hard, said the wrong thing, then-

“Yeah, Peggy. Okay. Let’s go.”

She hoped her relief wasn’t obvious on her face. “Well, then, Captain, go put on some real clothes and let’s go.”

“They, uh. I don’t have any?”

“Those bastards,” Peggy said viciously. “Even Howard? That louse.”

Steve laughed. “Well, we can buy clothes, right? Let’s just go.”

Their exit was quick and unremarkable- they just walked, confidently and without stopping, right out the hospital doors. 

“Alright, Agent,” Steve said, “what’s the plan?”

She led him to her car. “Care to drive, Captain?”

“I learned to drive in Germany,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck. “So maybe, uh, not yet.”

She laughed, slipping into the driver’s seat. “I’m self taught,” she admitted cheerfully. “Let’s go shopping, then.”

And Steve’s face when she gets him inside the store is worth it.

“I’d forgotten how colorful clothing could be,” he said softly, rubbing the fabric of a sleeve.

“The war’s over, Captain,” Peggy smiled. “We can wear nice things again. Here, let’s get you fitted.” She steered him towards the men’s department. 

“Oh, Pegs,” he said, stopping. “Look at that.” He was transfixed by a bright red hat on a mannequin. He turned to grin at her, eyes crinkling. “I’m gonna get you that hat.”

**Author's Note:**

> Anonymous said: Steggy- Peggy taking Steve out in public for the first time after being recovered from the ice
> 
> Here you go! There's not as much of his experience out in the world as there is his decision to actually go, but that's what wanted to be written. Also, peep the cameo at the end- that's Peggy's Famous Hat from Agent Carter, I couldn't resist.
> 
> Send me more prompts any time @ lovebeyondmeasure.tumblr.com


End file.
